The present invention is an improvement over the invention disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,770,136, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Powder consolidation technology has been associated with significant improvements in the characteristics of various materials. The results have included articles with improved manufacturability and performance for such applications as aircraft, armaments, automobiles, machinery, tooling, medical devices, and other products. Articles produced using these techniques may have complex shapes, bonded coatings, special surfaces, and may require minimal, or no, post-molding processing. Problems with the prior art include in-process materials contamination resulting in degraded performance, limited opportunities for in-situ materials modification, and high manufacturing costs. The purpose of this invention is to provide a method producing a wide variety of high performance articles, in one process, at lower cost.